Endless closes the door on Amdega

A CONSERVATORIES company based in Darlington which was bought by the Manchester office of turnaround fund Endless last August has been placed into administration.

Amdega laid claim to being the oldest conservatories maker in the world, having begun trading in 1874 to provide gazebos, orangeries and summer houses to private
individuals and to hotel operators such as Four Seasons.

Endless bought its stake in August following a group of investors including private equity firm 3i and members of a management team led by Steve Sutherland.
However, Mark Firmin and Brian Green from accountancy firm KPMG have now been appointed as joint administrators and have laid off most of its 197 members of staff.

The administrators have said there is no prospect for a sale of the business and that it is being closed.

A spokesman for Endless said: “At the time of investing, we knew that a turnaround of Amdega was going to be difficult.

” We take pride in our approach to investing in turnarounds and significant time, capital and energy has been committed to the business.  We appointed a new senior management team shortly after our investment, who all worked tirelessly and, with the workforce, achieved some significant operational improvements. 

“However, due to the significant legacy issues we inherited, together with extremely difficult trading conditions, sadly, on this occasion, a rescue of the company has not been possible. 

Joint administrator Mark Firmin said: “Amdega is a victim of the severe downturn in the big-ticket and home-related parts of the retail sector.

“Amdega had approximately 300 orders on its books at the time of the administration so there will be some impact on customers. Our key priority is to assess this situation and communicate with Amdega customers.

“We will be writing to them as quickly as possible, with information and guidance regarding their next steps.”